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avid_reader_sf_and_f's review against another edition
2.0
I typically enjoy this series quite a bit as a cozy mystery visit to Ireland. This book was simply not as good as previous books in the series. It was very slow moving and the climax was anticlimactic.
There was too much discussion of if the secrets of the past should be told and when to tell them that by the time they were revealed, way, way down the road, they weren't up to the hype.
There was too much discussion of if the secrets of the past should be told and when to tell them that by the time they were revealed, way, way down the road, they weren't up to the hype.
morticia32's review against another edition
2.0
Book 8 in the series.
I've enjoyed this series from the beginning, but this one just felt like the weakest of the lot. On one hand, it was nice to get to meet Maura's half sister, on the other hand, the mystery was kind of boring and the victim wasn't super likable and no one really seemed to care about him other than his gang-like family.
And the college student part of the plot kind of felt like half that story had been cut out, as we never really got an explanation of why the kid disappeared, or what he was doing when he was gone.
I still like the characters, and will continue to read the series, but please, finish the kitchen already! And if Ms. Connolly could bring back some of the music again, instead of just talking about it, that'd be good too.
*I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book provided by the publisher, via NetGalley.*
I've enjoyed this series from the beginning, but this one just felt like the weakest of the lot. On one hand, it was nice to get to meet Maura's half sister, on the other hand, the mystery was kind of boring and the victim wasn't super likable and no one really seemed to care about him other than his gang-like family.
And the college student part of the plot kind of felt like half that story had been cut out, as we never really got an explanation of why the kid disappeared, or what he was doing when he was gone.
I still like the characters, and will continue to read the series, but please, finish the kitchen already! And if Ms. Connolly could bring back some of the music again, instead of just talking about it, that'd be good too.
*I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book provided by the publisher, via NetGalley.*
annarella's review against another edition
5.0
I didn't like the previous instalment in this series but I'm happy to say it's back on track and this was an engrossing and entertaining read that kept me hooked.
There're all the elements I love in this series plus a solid mystery that kept me guessing.
I can't wait to read the next instalment.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.
There're all the elements I love in this series plus a solid mystery that kept me guessing.
I can't wait to read the next instalment.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.
mystereity's review against another edition
4.0
Somewhere between 3 and 4 stars, but I'm not sure where. I've been reading (and enjoying) this series since the beginning and although I liked this book, I felt like it was confused as to what it was supposed to be. There wasn't much of a mystery, so I'm going to say this is fiction with a hint of mystery and it seemed mostly to tie together a bunch of loose threads from the series so far and to connect Maura's mom and her new family to the series? I don't know.
The mystery (in a loose sense of the word) involved three college students who came to Leap to study Fairy Forts, small circular constructions that dot the landscape in the Cork part of Ireland. When one of them disappears, Maura and Mick go out to take a look around and find a body buried in one of the fairy forts, one that has been buried too long to be the missing college student. There's not a lot of investigating but the truth is soon uncovered.
The only part of the story that I didn't like was there was too much filler. Every new facet was repeated and rehashed over and over - punctuated by Maura explaining, over and over, to everyone in her vicinity that she didn't have a computer, didn't know how to use one and did she mention that her mother abandoned her and just came back into her life? If not, let's let everyone know yet again. So I think this would've been better as a short story minus all the filler.
Overall, I enjoy visiting Leap and the gang down at Sullivan's Pub but would've benefited from a stronger mystery and less filler.
The mystery (in a loose sense of the word) involved three college students who came to Leap to study Fairy Forts, small circular constructions that dot the landscape in the Cork part of Ireland. When one of them disappears, Maura and Mick go out to take a look around and find a body buried in one of the fairy forts, one that has been buried too long to be the missing college student. There's not a lot of investigating but the truth is soon uncovered.
The only part of the story that I didn't like was there was too much filler. Every new facet was repeated and rehashed over and over - punctuated by Maura explaining, over and over, to everyone in her vicinity that she didn't have a computer, didn't know how to use one and did she mention that her mother abandoned her and just came back into her life? If not, let's let everyone know yet again. So I think this would've been better as a short story minus all the filler.
Overall, I enjoy visiting Leap and the gang down at Sullivan's Pub but would've benefited from a stronger mystery and less filler.
dollycas's review against another edition
3.0
Dollycas’s Thoughts
This is a very hard review for me to write because this series had so much promise. I have been really enjoying my excursions to Ireland but for the second book in a row, the protagonist has driven me crazy.
Maura Donovan inherited a pub in Leap over a year ago through an agreement her grandmother, the woman who raised her, made with the previous owner. Her inheritance also included a cottage and we learn in this book several pieces of land. When she arrived she apparently signed a bunch of papers not realizing what she was signing and just went on her merry way showing up each day at the pub and returning to the cottage each night finding a dead body or two along the way. She recently reconnected with her mother and in this story meets her step-sister. She has two employees, a young lass named Rose, who is studying culinary arts so that the pub can start serving food, and Mick Sullivan, the bartender who Maura has a romantic relationship with.
Thank God for Rose and Mick because Maura knows nothing about running a business and after a year doesn’t seem willing to learn. She can’t answer basic questions about her business plans. She has a unique opportunity to get all the appliances she needs for free but has no clue what she wants or needs and passes all responsibility to Rose. Her younger sister who has just arrived in Ireland takes more interest and has more ideas than Maura.
In this story, a college student awakens Maura one morning asking to look for fairy forts on Maura’s land. I was excited to learn about the mystical fairy creations but when Maura didn’t even know what land was hers I was just shaking my head. While she may not be a farmer, her land could be rented out to make additional money to fix up the pub or other expenses but no one has ever approached Maura about this at all. That aside, the fairy forts are a very cool thing. A lot of folklore surrounds them and many believe they are best left alone and that angering the fairies could cause perilous consequences. The student offers to show Maura her maps on a computer but Maura explains she doesn’t have one and wouldn’t know how to use one if she did.
The student is joined by two classmates with equipment to help her investigate and record the fairy forts she finds but when they split up for lunch one of the students disappears. Maura gets the local garda involved and she and Mick do a little investigating on their own. They don’t find the student but do find a body buried in the center of one of the fairy forts. A body that has been there for decades. When the man is identified Maura finds there is a connection to her own past. In fact, the man’s story was an old one. A story just two people are still alive to tell, which they do after being put off for hours. Oh yes, and the student turns up too and is also connected to the old story.
I get that things in leap are laid back, at least around Sullivan’s Pub. Up the road, Maura’s mother is busy trying to get a hotel back on its feet following a murder in a previous book, but I just want Maura to be more engaged and not so lackadaisical. I like that her sister has come to visit and that Maura is making inroads with the mother that abandoned her.
My issues with Maura aside, and yes I qualified my review for the previous book the same way, there are some really good things in this story. I love Rose, she is smart and can think on her feet. The fairy fort theme was very interesting and after reading this story I want to know more. There was a lot of repetition throughout the book which was frustrating, tightening it up would make a shorter but better story.
Other series by this author have been very enjoyable and entertaining. With my Irish heritage, this series was a fave. I hope between now and the next book Maura has a grand awakening and realizes all she has been blessed with and starts to take it seriously.
This is a very hard review for me to write because this series had so much promise. I have been really enjoying my excursions to Ireland but for the second book in a row, the protagonist has driven me crazy.
Maura Donovan inherited a pub in Leap over a year ago through an agreement her grandmother, the woman who raised her, made with the previous owner. Her inheritance also included a cottage and we learn in this book several pieces of land. When she arrived she apparently signed a bunch of papers not realizing what she was signing and just went on her merry way showing up each day at the pub and returning to the cottage each night finding a dead body or two along the way. She recently reconnected with her mother and in this story meets her step-sister. She has two employees, a young lass named Rose, who is studying culinary arts so that the pub can start serving food, and Mick Sullivan, the bartender who Maura has a romantic relationship with.
Thank God for Rose and Mick because Maura knows nothing about running a business and after a year doesn’t seem willing to learn. She can’t answer basic questions about her business plans. She has a unique opportunity to get all the appliances she needs for free but has no clue what she wants or needs and passes all responsibility to Rose. Her younger sister who has just arrived in Ireland takes more interest and has more ideas than Maura.
In this story, a college student awakens Maura one morning asking to look for fairy forts on Maura’s land. I was excited to learn about the mystical fairy creations but when Maura didn’t even know what land was hers I was just shaking my head. While she may not be a farmer, her land could be rented out to make additional money to fix up the pub or other expenses but no one has ever approached Maura about this at all. That aside, the fairy forts are a very cool thing. A lot of folklore surrounds them and many believe they are best left alone and that angering the fairies could cause perilous consequences. The student offers to show Maura her maps on a computer but Maura explains she doesn’t have one and wouldn’t know how to use one if she did.
The student is joined by two classmates with equipment to help her investigate and record the fairy forts she finds but when they split up for lunch one of the students disappears. Maura gets the local garda involved and she and Mick do a little investigating on their own. They don’t find the student but do find a body buried in the center of one of the fairy forts. A body that has been there for decades. When the man is identified Maura finds there is a connection to her own past. In fact, the man’s story was an old one. A story just two people are still alive to tell, which they do after being put off for hours. Oh yes, and the student turns up too and is also connected to the old story.
I get that things in leap are laid back, at least around Sullivan’s Pub. Up the road, Maura’s mother is busy trying to get a hotel back on its feet following a murder in a previous book, but I just want Maura to be more engaged and not so lackadaisical. I like that her sister has come to visit and that Maura is making inroads with the mother that abandoned her.
My issues with Maura aside, and yes I qualified my review for the previous book the same way, there are some really good things in this story. I love Rose, she is smart and can think on her feet. The fairy fort theme was very interesting and after reading this story I want to know more. There was a lot of repetition throughout the book which was frustrating, tightening it up would make a shorter but better story.
Other series by this author have been very enjoyable and entertaining. With my Irish heritage, this series was a fave. I hope between now and the next book Maura has a grand awakening and realizes all she has been blessed with and starts to take it seriously.
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